News

The protest restarted by cane growers by blocking the Sangrur-Dhuri road on March 7 is gaining support from the locals. The protesters have been seeking their dues from the Dhuri sugar mill.

As many as 300 cane growers are staging a sit-in round the clock. Now, even the residents of surrounding villages have started supplying milk to the protesters while the food is being prepared at a dera near the protest site.

On Monday, the cane growers will take out a protest march in Dhuri and announce the future course of action to intensify their agitation.

“The sugar mill authorities are not releasing my dues of Rs 3.60 lakh and like me, there are many who have suffered huge losses due to the delay in payment. Since many of us took lands on a lease of Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 per acre, we had to take loans on higher interest from private money lenders to pay off the amount,” said Avtar Singh, a cane grower.

Meanwhile, a-35 member struggle committee has been formed by cane growers. Members of the BKU (Ugrahan), BKU (Dakaunda) and other farmers’ unions are also supporting the cane growers. They have formed special teams, which are daily visiting various villages to mobilise their support.

“We have made arrangements to continue the protest for a long time. Now, the area residents are also supplying ration and milk while the food is being cooked at a dera near the protest site,” said Hardeep Singh, a cane grower.

Another panel member Harjeet Singh alleged that they had ended their six-day protest on February 24 after getting an assurance that the mill authorities would release Rs 1.50 crore daily. “But they failed to fulfil their promise.”